Stefan

Damn you Klenke. I almost had it!

I'm sure the "well-paid" REI retail employees who frequent this site would have something to say about this! I kind of laugh at it too. But when you see the data, the retail employees at REI are getting slighter higher bump in pay than your average joe on the retail floor at Walmart!

Ignorant. Ignorant. Ignorant people. Every store position and every position at HQ has a wage or salary range. The HR department does an analysis every year to make sure the wage or salary range is comparable to THE MARKET for the position and the location where the position is in. They bump up the wage range for store retail employees becuase they believe they need to attract the knowledge becuase they are in a specialty retail environment. Your pay within that wage/salary range is determined by your prior year performance. You can only make the maximum in that range or you will not be paid less than the minimum in that range. If you suck, your pay does not increase. If you do well, then you get a raise. Bottom line: Pay for people is determined by the market for the position.

Why don't I hear about more sweatshops in Mexico than in Asia? Is labor more pricey in Mexico? Is it because the humidity is less and people sweat less?

Methinks spraying is stupid. Oh crap! I just sprayed.

. Cultures will change.....give it time.......you can't have "everything" now in the "information" revolution that is just getting started. You couldn't do many things in the former USSR. Things changed.......

I think the vast majority of people are smart enough to decide if wage and benefits are good enough for them. by this reasoning, sweatshops are a practical example of capitolism... is that the euphamistic spin you would use for that? Good point Fence. I have thought about this. My conclusion. I would support sweat shops. Why? Their lives are better than they were before. Seriously. People really had no money in SE Asia until the sweatshops started. More people died of starvation and of course, all the fighting..... Sweatshops are bad, but they are good in the long run. Hell, the US had sweatshops in the 1800's during the beginning of the industrial revolution. Then the people became organized and unions started demanding better working conditions. I expect the same thing will happen to sweatshops in the far east. It just takes time. Sweatshops bad in the short term.....but good in the long term.

That's what you get for being an insurance broker.

Yo. I devote my life to that site. The people on that site have been conversing longer than the existence of cc.com. Respect your elders! I will have to say SPRAY is entertaining on this site but at least there is more information about the backcountry on that site than there is here.......

Make no mistake about it: When chores, routine existence, and just playing it safe become the only purpose in life, there is no purpose, and one must be found. Thank God for Dr. Phil.

Hey PLC, gotta question. I remember in my economics class that tarriffs inevitably hurts the country that puts the tarriffs on. Is this generally correct? What about subsidies? Just interested becuase of the recent tariff war on lumber with Canada.

Its not a cop out. It's the truth. It's not tough luck either. It's called the market. The market reflects the most information to the consumer. If wages are high and the skill level to enter a job is low, then people will go to that job. A general merchandise retail employee does not need a lot of skills.

I think the vast majority of people are smart enough to decide if wage and benefits are good enough for them.

Mrs RW, I never bought that bologna from Walmart about USA products. If you believed that, then you believed the Ford truck was made in the USA--but a lot of parts came from Canada/Europe. I think the rule was that 80% of the product had to be from the US--but I am not sure. The problem with the "made in the USA" label is this: WalMart is a retailer. Not a manufacturer. They bought stuff from the manufacturer assuming the manufacturer was legitimate in their claims. Walmart has probably 150,000 SKUs for every store and probably over 2MM SKUs for all its stores--and in no way can they check out the claims of every manufacturer if what they say is true. Hell, look at what big R has to do with just a certain brand.

Hmmm......I don't know those exact situations. Is it in the book? Each state has slightly different laws, but mostly they are the same. If a company does something illegal, then they must pay up, and change the practice. As for being self insured. No laws against that. I worked for a company that was self insured. The company was self insured becuase it was cheaper. Walmart likes to do things cheaper and have lower overhead--that's why they can bring lower prices. Walmart doesn't have to pay up for suspicious claims--just like those people you see on TV that have a bad back and our out at their home lifting stuff. I never got into knowing about injuries and such at my work, because I wasn't in the loop. Do you have examples of employees being paid legitimate claims? I am sure you don't. And I am willing to bet that the legitimate ones far outweigh the ones that go to court. Changing working time cards is bad. As with any business and any community you will have a few bad apples--even managers. Many companies have done it--not every person is good. Just becuase a few people out of thousands do it, doesn't mean the whole company does the practice. Get real. And I am sure to believe that many small business in small towns have changed the time cards on their employees--and continue to do it. You just never hear about it.

I'll bite. Here I am. I am so damned cute! Stefan and his kids......

She didn't turn me down becuase she knows I am no threat. She knows I be married to my beyotch for 11 years now with two rugrats.

Isn't this the guy from Pakistan wanting us to sign up for a trip on an expedition a while back?

For only one reason. The owner was incompetent. He would've failed regardless. I found the timing interesting with the failure of Swallow's Nest. Even if the owner was incompetent, why did the store continue for so long until REI built the bohemoth?

Give me the book baby. You know where I live! Hell, you could give it to R and I could pick it up from him on my way home. I am looking for a new book to read.....just finished a Kurt Vonegut book--it was weird. Looking forward to Harry Potter #5! P.S. I don't love Walmart. I love Fred Meyer! I just think Walmart fills a niche and they are very efficient.

There is so much pussy potential out there. Why would you want to end your life early? Even if I was 90 years old, I could always think--I almost had Lawgoddess. I wonder what her phone number is now?

Don't you mean to say unethical enough? Nope. What's unethical about Walmart? Your ethics are different than other people's ethics. Here's a little microcosm of a story you are all very familiar with. Remember "The Swallow's Nest"? It used to be a nice little store in Seattle, until the bohemoth (REI) created the megastore just off of I-5. Well, guess what? Swallow's Nest went out of business shortly after the bohemoth REI (aka Walmart of the outdoor industry) opened. Why did Swallow's Nest go out of business? Becuase people found the location of REI more convenient, offered more choices, and probably better prices. A little fact many of you don't know. Swallow's Nest also bet on some gear that didn't sell, and so was their downfall--they did not make smart purchases of product. Many of you went shopping to the REI bohemoth instead of Swallow's Nest. But there is a nice little story in all of this. Feathered Friends. What did they do? They moved with REI. They are doing fine. They are probably equal with where they were on the Capitol Hill store. Here's the moral of the story. If you don't find a niche and be smart in the retail industry you will get swallowed up and you will be kicked out. The smart survive. The small stores being kicked out in their own backyards are not fullfilling the niche that Walmart is doing.

I will reiterate what many people have said. I have done the exact same route you speak of--car parked at Cold Springs, walked through Bird Meadows, up the Mazama...... I saw no one. I saw no signs. I paid no money. I had no worries. I will say this. Bird Meadows was by far one of my top 3 meadows I have seen in this state. Spectacular.

I have done Maude and 7FJ in a day from the trailhead. Doing these two peaks in a day is doable—however combining all three in one day would be a significant feat. I recommend on day one make camp at Leroy Basin and climb Maude. Day two go up 7FJ and then follow the route description for the SW that Beckey says for Fernow. Fernow is 5 hours from Leroy Basin. Staying on the ridge proper of 7FJ towards Mt. Fernow would be very time consuming and tedious. All three are definitely doable in two days depending on the routes you take.

Another recommendation: Replace the inner footbed of your boot. I have these really nice cushy ones that were $10 from Walgreens. Some people use $30 Superfeet brand but I don't think they work that well. There were about 15 different choices at Walgreens. The footbeds they provide you in the boots always suck.